The present invention relates to carburetors and carburetor air filters and especially to a system for heating the air passing through the carburetor by means of an independent heating element and blower.
In the past, it has been common to provide carburetors on internal combustion engines with various devices to increase the efficiency of the carburetor during normal operation and especially during warm up of the engine when the car is first started. In normal operation, heated water from the engine is sometimes directed adjacent the carburetor to heat the carburetor and the gas and air passing therethrough to increase the efficiency of the operation of the vaporization of the gas and of the operation of the engine. Many internal combustion engines on automobiles have valves for directing warm exhaust air into pipes adjacent the carburetor for heating the carburetor rather than using hot water. However, these heating devices are ineffective until the engine is sufficiently warm to produce the necessary heat to heat the carburetor and the gas being fed thereinto. To start a cold engine, a choking mechanism is generally used which reduces the amount of air that enters the carburetor relative to the amount of gas being fed to the carburetor to substantially enrich the mixture of the air being fed to the engine until the engine is warmed up. In addition, accelerator valves and other devices splash gasoline into the carburetor to substantially enrich the mixture. This makes the engine start better and run better initially but substantially reduces the efficiency of the engine which frequently also has a device for increasing the idling speed of the engine while the engine is warming up and thereby further reducing the efficiency of operation of the engine. It has also been suggested in various prior patents to provide various means for heating the gasoline being fed to the carburetor along with heating elements and the like and also to return exhaust gases to the intake manifold in order to reduce the pollution output of the engine.
In addition, there have been various U.S. patents for heating the air and gas being fed to the carburetor such as U.S. Pat. No. 3,653,366 for a control device for the air intake of carburetor-type internal combustion engines and U.S. Pat. No. 3,777,728 for a process and apparatus for assisting in starting internal combustion engines by heating the intake air of an fuel-air mixture before the air reaches the carburetor of the engine with a halogen bulb enclosed by a metal grid through which the intake air flows. U.S. Pat. No. 3,782,349 teaches an intake air temperature automatic adjusting device and air cleaner with such device for internal combustion engines while U.S. Pat. No. 2,756,730 teaches a water cooler and hot air intake assembly in which the heated water from the engine cooling system heats the intake air being fed to the carburetor. U.S. Pat. No. 3,830,210 illustrates an air intake system with a temperature control warm air valve which directs warm air via a flat valve to the air filter from the manifolds of the engine. U.S. Pat. No. 3,672,342 illustrates a system for controlling air and fuel temperature utilizing a small heat exchanger for mixing heated and ambient air being fed to the carburetor while U.S. Pat. No. 1,381,434 illustrates a liquid fuel internal combustion engine of an older type.
The present invention on the other hand teaches a system which is readily attachable to existing vehicles or which may be added to new vehicles which allows the air to be heated in a cold engine just being started and to heat the air, as well as to direct some of the heated air for heating the carburetor and gas being fed to the carburetor while also applying a positive pressure of air from a blower.